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Nowadays, competition in the baijiu market is increasingly fierce. For baijiu companies, it is necessary to examine baijiu promotions from different perspectives, designing business models from the three levels of business, channel, and brand, while also considering the long-term, coherent, and systematic nature of promotions.

Generally, the product life cycle is divided into four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. The core marketing task during the introduction stage is to improve product distribution coverage; during the growth stage, the core is to increase market share and expand sales volume; during maturity, the core is to monitor competitors and maintain brand position; during decline, the core is to resolve channel profit issues. At each stage, companies need to formulate different promotional strategies.

I. Introduction Stage: Improve Target Distribution Coverage

One of the most important indicators for the success of baijiu brand promotion and sales increase is “distribution coverage.” During the product launch phase, a certain level of distribution coverage plays a crucial role in product promotion, advertising coordination, and market stabilization. To ensure the achievement of distribution coverage goals, companies need to establish, expand, or adjust distribution networks and terminal networks according to plan.

  • Improve distribution coverage within existing distributors' areas: Analyze distributors' strengths, weaknesses, and core interests, adopt appropriate terminal promotion methods and means, and provide corresponding rewards for completing distribution to a specified number of stores within a set time.
  • Win over competitors' distribution networks and terminals: Analyze competitors' channel policies, after-sales service, and relationships with distributors and terminal merchants, and use superior promotional policies and services to win over competitors' distributors. This is one of the main ways to attack competitors and seize market share.
  • Enhance existing distributors' distribution capabilities: On one hand, conduct comprehensive promotional publicity for the market and channels; on the other hand, strengthen personnel and vehicle support for channels to assist distributors in developing the market. For example, a task force can be established to help improve distribution coverage in a short time.
  • Develop new markets and improve distribution coverage: For new markets, strengthen manpower and widely carry out product information and promotional activities. Product launch conferences, tasting events, and other activities can be held to promote to dealers and distributors, using favorable promotional policies to attract new dealers and distributors to try selling.
  • Improve sales personnel work quality to expand terminal distribution coverage: Hold distribution competitions, set rewards for the number of stores covered per day and bonuses for exceeding targets; set reward amounts, preferably settled on the same day, to motivate sales staff's enthusiasm for distribution.

There are mainly two methods to improve distribution coverage: one is a single promotional strategy, such as suitcase exchange, terminal display rewards, terminal distribution rewards, and retail store limited-quantity rewards; the other is a promotional combination strategy, combining single promotional methods, such as retail store limited-quantity rewards + terminal distribution rewards + terminal display rewards + suitcase rewards.

II. Awareness Stage: Stimulate Channel and Consumer Desire

When a new product is just launched, channel and consumer awareness is low. How can companies quickly solve the problem of channel stocking? How can they quickly stimulate consumer enthusiasm and purchase desire? In addition to necessary publicity, effective promotional activities are needed to increase channel push and consumer pull. At the same time, handling the relationship between new and old products is also very important.

  • Within a specified time, use both incentives and pressure to make dealers stock up; or the manufacturer supports dealers with launch tasting events and terminal expenses.
  • Organize distributor tasting events, arrange visits to the factory, sign rebate agreements, and increase distributor profits.
  • Adopt terminal stocking rewards, or give away new products with best-selling old products, or sign display agreements to increase profits. At the same time, set up box-opening rewards, box-opening prizes, and bottle-opening prizes to increase terminal stocking enthusiasm.
  • Establish a sales personnel bonus system, using high commissions to stimulate sales staff's enthusiasm for promoting new products. When the original product still has sales in the market, handle the old product in a low-key manner, maintaining the old product's sales policy unchanged; accelerate publicity and promotion of the new product, so that new and old products form a combination in the market to better meet consumers' different needs.
  • Use existing channels as much as possible for sales, which can reduce market development costs for new products. At the same time, formulate corresponding “rebate” policies based on the sales ratio of new and old products in the market during the same period, which can extend the sales cycle of old products and accelerate the replacement speed of new and old products.

III. Growth Stage: Expand Product Sales

After the market reaches a certain “distribution coverage,” the main goal of the enterprise is to increase market share. At this time, the promotional goal has shifted to expanding sales, that is, increasing order quantities from dealers and terminals to obtain expected profits. This stage generally has the following promotional strategies:

  • Stimulate existing distributors and terminals to stock: Adopt promotional competitions, high-value rewards, combination rewards, free travel, material rewards, following the principles of timing, novel forms, intensity, and combination.
  • Develop new distributors: Attract distributors with promotions and reasonable prices, but avoid over-development. Use channel segmentation to differentiate distribution, with flexible promotional policies that maintain old distributors while attracting new ones.
  • Seek new channels to increase sales.

IV. Maturity Stage: Respond to Competitor Competition

The main strategic goal during the maturity stage of baijiu products is to adopt a proactive strategy to extend the maturity period or achieve a product life cycle re-cycle. The overall marketing strategy is: maintain brand position, grasp effective markets, and formulate corresponding promotional policies based on competitors' actions.

First, when competitors occupy a large share and have a significant impact on channels and the entire market, the enterprise should proactively change its current sales policy; conversely, when competitors occupy a small share and have little impact on channels and the market, the enterprise should keep its existing policy unchanged.

Second, when competitors' market share increases, the enterprise should take corresponding actions, analyzing the reasons for rapid growth of competing products and formulating new channel promotion plans and policies based on its own situation.

Third, when competitors' sales surge, analyze the reasons for the surge. Without affecting the long-term development of the enterprise, certain channel promotional policies can be formulated and certain methods chosen to promote sales.

V. Decline Stage: Increase Channel Profit

The main strategic goal during the decline stage of baijiu products is to extend the product life cycle through careful analysis and research, adopting corresponding strategies.

As the product enters the decline stage, product prices and channel profits become transparent. At this time, channel members are unwilling to sell the product, or even hide it to sell. Meanwhile, the new product has not yet fully replaced the old product to occupy the market. To extend the life cycle of the old product and ensure a smooth transition for the new product from introduction to growth, it is necessary to design channel promotional strategies to increase push. Common promotional strategies include: stacking box rewards, bar display rewards, distributor rebate rewards, and increasing dealer rebates; common combination promotional strategies are: dealer rebate + distributor rebate + terminal display rewards.

For baijiu companies, it is essential to analyze and study the market performance of various products, correctly judge their position in the life cycle, eliminate old products, develop new products, and form two reasonable echelon structures for the alternation of new and old products. At different stages of the life cycle, targeted marketing strategies should be adopted to ensure maximum profit throughout the product's life cycle.

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